Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT S.A., trading asLOT Polish Airlines or LOT (Polish: Polskie Linie Lotnicze LOT, abbreviated as PLL LOT), is the flag carrier of Poland, based in Warsaw.[2] The name Polskie Linie Lotnicze means "Polish Airlines" in Polish, while lot means "flight". LOT operates scheduled passenger and cargo services: domestic services link Warsaw with ten cities and over 50 routes are operated throughout Europe and to the Middle East and North America. Its main base is at Warsaw Frédéric Chopin Airport. LOT has been a member of Star Alliance since 2003.[3] Established in 1929, LOT is one of the oldest airlines in the world.

The airline is owned by the Polish government (67.97%), Towarzystwo Finansowe Silesia sp. z o.o. (25.1%) and employees (6.93%). It has 4,199 employees (March 2007).[3]

Contents

History

The airline was established on 1 January 1929 by the Polish government as a state owned self governing corporation taking over existing domestic lines Aero and Aerolot, and started operations on 2 January.[4] The first aircraft used were Junkers F.13 and Fokker F.VII. Its first international service began on 2 August 1929 to Vienna.[4] Accepted into IATA in 1930, it opened an international route to Bucharest that year, followed by Berlin, Athens, Beirut, Helsinki, Rome and some others. Douglas DC-2, Lockheed Model 10A Electra and Model 14H Super Electra joined the fleet in 1935, 1936 and 1938 respectively (at its peak, LOT had 10 Lockheed 10, 10 Lockheed 14, 3 DC-2 and 1 Ju 52/3mge). It carried 218,000 passengers by the war.[4]

Services were suspended during the Second World War, and all of LOT's aircraft were either destroyed or detained. From August 1944 until December 1945 the Polish Air Force maintained basic transport in the country. On 10 March 1945 the Polish government recreated the LOT airline. In 1946, seven years after the service was suspended, the airline restarted its operations after receiving 10 Lisunov Li-2, then further 30 Li-2 and 9 Douglas C-47. Both domestic and international services restarted that year, first to Berlin, Paris, Stockholm and Prague.[5]

The Ilyushin Il-18 (9 aircraft) was introduced in May 1961, leading to the establishment of routes to Africa and Middle East. The Antonov An-24 was delivered from April 1966 (20 used, on domestic routes), followed by the first jet airliners Tupolev Tu-134 in November 1968 (12 used) and the Ilyushin Il-62 long range jet airliner in May 1972. The introduction of Il-62 aircraft enabled transatlantic services to Montreal and New York. Polish pilots would frequently go to Anchorage, Rio de Janeiro, and Vancouver to exchange fishing crews. Interestingly, these fishing fleets helped the aircrew a great deal. There were no regular flights to Anchorage, Rio de Janeiro, and Vancouver so ship crew exchange charter flights were a great adventure for pilots. In Autumn, 1981 air transportation collapses some Western airlines suspend their connections with Warsaw. On 13 December, all LOT Polish Airlines connections are suspended. In 1984 charter flights to New York and Chicago are resumed, then regular flights are resumed.Tupolev Tu-154 mid-range airliners were acquired in the 1980s. From the mid-1980s to the early-1990s transatlantic charter flights reach Detroit and Los Angeles.

The current livery, with the large inscription LOT in blue on the fuselage front, and a blue tailfin, was introduced in 1977,[6] but the circular representation of a stylized crane in flight remains unchanged over the years (with occasional flips, notably in corporate typography), designed by Tadeusz Gronowski, a visual artist from Warsaw, who won the competition for creating the airline's logo in 1929,[7] introduced 2 years later by the airline and kept through the years, despite many changes in livery[8]

Charter flights

LOT Polish Airlines is to launch charter operations under the name of LOT Charters. The announcement of the launch of LOT Charters has been positively received by tour operators. The first aircraft in LOT Charters livery took off on 1st June 2009. LOT Polish Airlines expects 400,000 passengers on chartered long- and short-haul flights this year, which would allow the company to reach a 25 percent market share and establish a leading position among charter carriers operating on the Polish market. Over the past 10 years, the market of charter flights in Poland has been showing a steady growth rate of 9 - 11 percent. Most LOT Charters flights will be operated using six Boeing 737-400 aircraft. For the first time, LOT charter flights will also be flown by a Boeing 767 which will allow direct long-haul operations. The possibility of taking passengers, especially in the winter season, to distant and exotic destinations, e.g. Thailand, Mexico or the Caribbean, makes the service offered by LOT Charters particularly attractive. LOT Charters has already established partnerships with several major tour operators such as Neckermann, TUI, Rainbow Tours, Orbis Travel, and Triada.

Incidents and accidents

19 December 1962 — Vickers Viscount 804, on a scheduled flight LO 248 from Brussels to Warsaw with a stop in Berlin crashed at the threshold of runway 33 at Warsaw while making a second approach using instrument landing at night in fog and in winter conditions. There were 33 fatalities (all on board).[11]

On 20 August 1965 - Vickers Viscount SP-LVA of crashed at Jeuk, Belgium after entering a thundercell. All four people on board were killed.[12]

17 May 1977 — Antonov An-12, SP-LZA, a cargo plane leased by LOT Polish airlines from the Polish Air Force along with its crew, flying with a cargo of fresh strawberries crashed in Liban, 8 kilometers from Beirut airport, all onboard were killed.

14 March 1980 — Ilyushin Il-62, flight LO 007, crashed near Warsaw airport after starting an overshoot due to a landing gear problem. When takeoff thrust was applied, the no.2 engine failed, severing the control cables for the elevator and rudder. There were 87 fatalities (all on board).[14]

9 May 1987 — Ilyushin Il-62M, flight LO 5055. Shortly after departure from Warsaw, the aircraft's no.1 engine suffered an uncontained engine failure. Parts of the engine penetrated the fuselage and damaged the elevator control systems, causing a loss of elevator authority and eventually a loss of control of the aircraft. There were 183 fatalities (all on board), making this Poland's worst air disaster.[15]

2 November 1988 - Antonov An-24W, flight LO 703, had to make emergency landing on a field 32 km from Rzeszow after both engines failed. One passenger died and the rest were seriously injured.[16]